Phobia
by Mush's Skittles
Summary: It's night, it's snowing, and three strangers are approaching the small suburban house that Mush and Skittery share.... A Challenge from NewsieChallenge


Start with the line:  
  
"Sometimes I'm not so sure about love."  
  
and end with the line:  
  
"And then the doorbell rang."  
  
Include the line "pit of my stomach"

* * *

"Sometimes, I'm not so sure about love." Mush sighed dreamily and gazed out the window over the snow covered street. He watched the snowflakes appear, tiny and perfect, under the streetlights and in the headlights of the cars that were driving slowly down the icy road.

"I'm never sure about love," Skittery replied grumpily. He didn't look up from his book, but punctuated this statement with a heavy, tragic sigh.

Mush was leaning over the back of their couch, his forehead pressed against the cold glass of the window. Hypnotized by the rhythm of the falling snowflakes and the slow page-turning of Skittery's book, it took Mush's sluggish brain a few moments to see the three people wandering up the street, trudging their way up the hill through a foot and a half of snow.

"Hey, Skit. Skit."

There was no response save the quiet flap of his book's pages.

"Skit. _SKIT. Skittery!" _Mush began hitting the windowsill, pounding it in rhythm with his quickening heartbeat. "Skittery. Skittery! There are people coming, Skittery, _Skittery_!"

Skittery chewed on his lower lip. He tried to ignore Mush's panicky requests for his attention. That's what the doctor told him, he reminded himself, trying to concentrate on his book. He should not react at all, that Mush needed to overcome his fear of outsiders on his own. It was heart-breaking, to let him sit there in terror.

"Skit, it's different this time, I know it is, they're going to rob us. I can feel it in the pit of my stomach." The three people had stopped at a house down the street. Mush counted. There were four houses between the threesome and his house. "SKITTERY!"

Tears were streaming down Mush's face. He couldn't tear his eyes away from the three people coming up the street. The snow was getting thicker, and in a great swirl of snow, the whole street disappeared.

Skittery heard Mush's hurried breathing, and he could handle that, but when he looked up and saw Mush's cheeks glistening with tears, it was all he could to keep himself from jumping up and holding Mush in his arms, wrapping him in blankets, making him safe.

He hesitated, and then unfolded himself from the chair he was in. He walked up to Mush, and tried to be calm. "What is it, Mush?" Mush pointed down the street, and jammed his finger into the window. Skittery looked and saw the three solicitors, now three houses away.

Mush hid his face in the folds of Skittery's oversized hoodie sweatshirt. Skittery contemplated putting on his shoes and jacket and going out to speak with them. He would explain that they couldn't come to his house, sorry, his friend had been robbed as a child, his parents murdered; he couldn't handle people coming up to the house....

It was what Mush would want him to do; no doubt, Mush would want him to just make them go away.

"C'mon, Mush. They just want to sell us something. Maybe you should answer the door, so you can warn me if they're dangerous?" Skittery tried to do what the doctor had told him, play to Mush's strengths. Mush was very protective, but this protectiveness obviously didn't extend to the terror of someone invading his house. Mush winced and buried himself farther into Skittery's sweatshirt.

"Oh, come on," Skittery said, finally defeated. He lead Mush upstairs to the bedroom where they each had their own bed ("That way, they can't kill both of us at the same time." Mush never specified who "they" was.). If Mush was upstairs, he could hide under the covers as Skittery answered the door, and fended off any malicious callers to the house.

Mush wanted badly to run upstairs, but the thought of going upstairs into the dark alone was disconcerting, so he hung back, keeping his eyes on Skittery's hood as they made their way up the creaky stairs to the attic bedroom.

When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Skittery realized that his forgotten book was still in his favorite chair. He thought about it a moment, then turned to Mush. "Mush. Stay right here, I'm going to go get my book." He said. Mush began to protest, but Skittery pushed past him and stumbled through the dark living room, found his book, and headed back to where Mush was peeking around the doorway.

Skittery smiled at him, but Mush suddenly sent a terrified look toward the door.

And then the doorbell rang.


End file.
